Signaling system for electric railways



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' I'. BATHURST.

SIGNALING SYSTEM FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

No. 558,028. PatentedApr. 14, 11896.

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P BATHURST. SIGNALING SYSTEM EUR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

No. 558,028. A BatentedApr. 14, 1896.

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- I VENTE .WITNESfn-: (JEM/L Foi/(W- Nirnn STATES ATENT OFFICE.

FRED BATI'IURST, OF SCI-IENECTDY, NEIV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF NEW YORK.

SIGNALINGSYSTEIVI `FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,028, dated April 14, 1896. Application led July 15, 1893; Serial No. 480,597. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED BATHURST, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Signaling Systems for Electric Railways, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to signaling systems for electric railways, particularly to such systems operated by the line-current, and has for its object to provide a system peculiarly adapted to give warning of the occupation of the switches and turnouts when both ends of the switches or turnouts are not'visible from the track, although it is applicable toy other purposes. To this end I provide a switch operated by the trolley-wheel, in passing which may light lamps or manipulate a semaphore, at the same time switching in lamps which serve to block the track behind the car, in whatever direction it may be moving.

Most street-railways are by the nature of their surroundings forced to build singletrack roads and provide them with suitable turnouts at the ends and at intermediate portions of their length. In many cases these turnouts or their ends are notwithin sight of each other, and in consequence it sometimes occurs that cars meet upon a sin gle-track porportion of the road and one or the other must back up to a turnout. This is not only inconvenient, causing loss of time and annoyance to passengers, but may even result in danger from collisions. It is to obviate the difliculties pointed out that I have devised my system and apparatus for signaling to different parts of the road. The complete apparatus consists of two special switches herein fully described and illustrated, Vwhich are placed upon the trolley-wire, two sets of lamps or semaphores, and a single connecting-wire, which is preferably of about N o. 16 Birmingham wire-gage, connecting the signals. The principle of two-way switches is employed, thus insuring the operation of the two signals in unison, and my special switch is so designed that it will operate only when the car is goingrin the desired direction, and has the advantage of low first cost and of being capable of employment with overhead material of standard patterns.

In the drawings hereunto annexed and hereby made part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of myimprov'ed switch in position upon the trolley-wire. Fig. 2 is a similar side elevation taken from the rear of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a section taken upon the line 3 of Figs. l and 2,1ooking to the left in Fig. 2; and

Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are diagrams of the connections.

A is the trolley-wire, B B are standard pattern insulators, land C is the trolley-wheel, while L is an ordinary hanger for trolley-wires. All of these parts are such as are commonly used in the art.

E is the base-plate for my switch, made of any suitable insulation, such as a thin piece of slate or a piece of hard fiber.

D D arebinding-posts to which the wires are connected, as more fully described hereinafter.

F is one of the contact-plates of the switch, with which it makes constant contact.

Gis the handle of the switch, which, as illustrated inl Figs. 1 and 2, depends below the trolley-wire, so that the wheel engages it with certainty. It is desirable, although not imperative, that the handle Vshould be long enough to drop below the center of the trolleywheel. To effect this operation, I provide lost motion between the handle G of the switch and the part carrying the switch-contacts, which is made of insulating material and designated by G, the portion of the connection cut away being shown at M, Fig. l.

G2 is the portion of the switch which connects the contact-plates F F I in the manner best shown in Fig. 3, wherein it will be seen that the rear portion of the switch-plate G2 is in constant contact with the contact-plate F, while its front part may be upon the contactplate I, upon the plate F', or upon the block of insulating material between them, as best seen in Fig. 2.

K is abase-plate, of copper, brass, or other good conducting material, which is in electric connection with the trolley-Wire A. Running from this base-plate to the contact-plate `I is a wire I-I, serving to connect the contact-plate with the trolley-wire. The binding-post D' upon the contact-plate F is electrically connected to the rails or other ground return.

The signal and block lights on the left of the track-section are lettered h and a, respectively, and those on the left band d.

Referring now to Fig. 7, the use and operation of the device just described will be apparent from a description of the connections. This iigure represents the system diagrammatically with a car upon the single track between the turnouts, the carpassing from left to right. It will be noted that the trolleywheel of the car in passing under the first signaling device moved the lever G into the position shown, thus completing the circuit of the block-lamps, as follows: from the trolley A to line l-I, contact I,'switch G2, contact-plate F, by connection N to lamp-main, lamps u' and a, by connection. N to the plate F, by switch G2 to contact-plate F/, thence to ground. The signal-lamps b will also be lighted by the throwing of switch G, and the current for these lamps is supplied by the connection H from the trolley A, contact-plate I, thence through the lamps Z) to the connection N, where it unites with the current from the block-lamps a a to ground. It will be seen that the throwing of the switch G has closed the circuit through lamps ed, a, and b, the former receiving their current from the opposite end of the single track, while the latter receive it from a connection on the switch itself. The lamps b/ were left lighted by the passage of the last car running toward the left. Consequently all lamps are now lighted. To a car approaching from the right the lamps h indicate that a car has passed going in the same direction, and were the lamps a out then the road would be clear; but as it is lamps a being lighted by the car closing the circuit on the other end of the single-track line the motorman knows there is a car approachin After the car leaves the section and throws switch G to the right then'lamps b', d, and a are out, b being left lighted to indicate to a car approaching from the left which way the last car Went, and the lamps a being out indicate that the track is clear.

Fig. 4 indicates on a reduced scale the same thing as Fig. 7.

Passing now to Fig. 5 it will be observed that the car has passed off the turnout from the condition shown in Fig. 4 in the direction to the right and has thrown the switch on the right-hand side of the diagram. In this position the lamps b will be lighted by current passing through the connection I-I, contactplate I, through the lamps to connection N, contact-plate F to ground. The lamps a a b being now in series no current can pass through them, as the voltage is not high enough to sustain' ten lamps in series and the resistance too great to allow current to pass.

Referring to Fig. 6, the opposite condition of affairs is shown-that is, when the car has passed from the switch, as in Fig. 4, toward the left of the figure. By similarly tracing the connections it will be seen that the lamps b are lighted and all of the other lamps areV out.

In all the figures the black spots indicate the lamps that are out and the white circles indicate lighted lamps. It is quite manifest that the lamps Z) b may be located, if desired, at any distance from the switch and turnout and that they will indicate only in the rear of the car after it has passed onto the section and so serve to block the track behind each car.

Should traffic become deranged so that cars do not pass alternately, but several follow each other in the same direction, protection may still be afforded-as, for example, if one car has set the switches in the position shown in Fig. 5 and it is desired to run a second car in the same direction a car can be run on the singletrack and then backed up so as to throw the switch G in the opposite direction correspending to the position of the switch G in the left-hand end of Fig. G and afterward repassing it by dropping the trolley clear at the moment of passing. Protection will now be afforded the car, for the block-lights a a' are receiving current through connection II at the left of the section, lever G2, plate I, plate F to the lamps a a', thence to ground through plate F, lever G2, plate F/ to ground on the right-hand end of the section. In this case there would be no signal-lights l) b' lighted, but aslong as block-lights c a are lighted the motorman on an approaching car knows that the section is occupied.

Two or more cars following one another so closely as to be in sight of one another may also run upon the single track in the same direction without disorganizing the system. This expedient is found advantageous upon roads having heavy traffic at certain periods of the day.

If used by daylight, any visual signal, such as a semaphore-arm, may be employed, if preferred, as it will be operated by the switchlever just as effeetually and in a similar manner to that described above, the semaphore or magnetic device merely taking the place of the indicating-lamps.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and wish to protect by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A signaling apparatus for electric railways, consisting of two similar switches, each provided with a contact-plate, as I, connected to line, a second contact-plate,as F,connected to ground, a switch-arm making constant contact with a third contact-plate, as F, lamps, as b, h', connected between the contact-plates I, F, of each switch, and other lamps, as a, a', connected between the contact-plates F, F, of both switches, substantially as herein described and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a signal system for electric railways, the combination of signal and block lights located at either end of a section of track,

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the signal-lights receiving current from the switch near which they are located, the blocklights receiving current from the switch at the opposite end of the section. t

3. In a signaling system for an electric railway, the combination of two switches situated at either end of a section of track and operated by a car traveling thereon, indicating and block lights operated by the switch, the indicating-lights indicating at one point only, the block-lights at two.

4. In a signaling system for an electric railway, the combination of lights and switches situated at either end of a section of track and controlled by the passing of the car, the lights on either end being divided into two sets, one set indicating the direction of the last car run upon the section, the other indicating if there is a car upon the section.

5. In a signaling system for an electric railway, the combination of setsof lights and switches situated at either end of the section, each set of lights composed of two elements, one element controlled entirely by the switch at its end of the section, the other element being controlled from either end.

G. In a signaling system for electric railways, the combination of sets of lights located at either end of a section, a single switch for either set, the first switch operating indicating and blocking lights on entering of the car on the section, the second switch interrupting the circuit of the blocking-lights on the car leaving the section.

7. As an article of manufacture, a signaling-switch mounted on a trolley-supporting ear, insulating-supports on either side of the switch, contacts mounted on the front and back side of an insulating-plate, a switchhandle made in two parts insulated from each other'with lost motion between, pivoted to the insulatingplate and extending below the base-line of the trolley-ear.

8. In a switch for an electric signaling apparatus, the combination of a trolley-supporting ear, two insulating-supports to suspend the ear from the span-wires, an insulatingplate mounted between the insulating-supports, contacts on the front and back of the plate, a switch-arm composed of a lower depending arm, and an upper arm making contact with the contacts on the'front and back side of the insulating-plate.

9. In a signal system for electric railways,

the4 combination of signal and block lights, situated at either end of a section of track, controlled by a car entering or leaving the section, the car on entering the section closing the circuit through the block-lights and its signal-lights, and on leaving the section opening the circuit of all except its signallights.

lO. In a signal system for electric railways, the combination of signal and block lights located at either end of a section of track,with a two-way switch connecting the block-lights with ground in one position and with the trolley in the other.

11. In a signal system for electric railways, the combination of two switches situated at either end of a section of track and actuated by a car entering or leaving the section, signal and block lights operated by the switches, the signallights being controlled by the switch near which they are located, the blocklights being controlled by the cooperation of both switches.

12. Ina signal system for electric railways, the combination of signal and block lights located at either end of a section of track with a two-way switch connecting the signal and block lights with the trolley in one position, and grounding the block-lights in the other.

13. In a signaling device for electric railways, the combination of two-way switches mounted on the wire at either end of a section of track, signal and block lights also located at the ends of the section, a switchhandle acting to close the circuit through the signal and block lights upon the entering of a car upon the section, and a switch-handle actuated by a car leaving the section opening the circuit through all the lamps except the sign al-lamps at the beginning of the section.

14. A signaling system for an electric railway, consisting of block and signal lights situated at the ends of a section of track, one set of signal-lights indicating at all times the direction of the last car, and switches for closing the circuits of all lamps when a car is on the section.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of July, 1893.

'FRED BATIIURST. Witnesses:

T. A. BRANIM, H. F. PUrNnY.

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